SAN JOSE -- A man in his 30s was found shot to death on an East San Jose sidewalk and his body remained in the view of thousands of Monday morning commuters on Capitol Expressway as officers pored over the area, marking the city's ninth homicide of the year.

A resident heading to work called police around 4:25 a.m. after spotting the victim lying in front of the driveway of a home on Murtha Drive at South Capitol Avenue near Story Road, parallel to the thoroughfare, Lt. Mike Sullivan said.

Police and firefighters responding to the call found the man, who has not been identified, dead from an apparent gunshot wound, according to a news release. A motive was not immediately known.

Homicide detectives examined the site for several hours as neighbors woke up to see their block cordoned off by police.

One Murtha Drive resident, who asked not to be named out of safety concerns, said she heard what she thought was a firecracker around 2 a.m. and realized later in the morning it may have been a gunshot.

Residents of the neighborhood said the killing revived long-running complaints about increasing violence in the area, including a spate of stabbings.

Steve Rodriguez has lived on the street for 15 years and said he asked police to see the body in case it was his 35-year-old son -- who he acknowledged was known to run into trouble -- but was rebuffed by investigators.

"I wanted to see if it was my son," Rodriguez said. "There's a lot of violence going on."